The MAST SEARCH TOOLBOX

MAST currently provides many different types of services and searches, some of
which have been implemented relatively recently. Look to see if the type of search you are interested in is listed below. If you cannot find the type of search you are looking for, please contact our help desk at archive@stsci.edu.

The simplest, quickest way to search for data on a particular object or
position is to use 'Quick Target Search.' This tool is available from our main
page at http://archive.stsci.edu.
To use it, the user either enters a target
name, which is resolved by Simbad (the astronomical database of the Centre des
Donnees astronomiques de Strasbourg) or by the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic
Database (NED), or enters J2000 coordinates, where right ascension and
declination are separated by a comma. The Quick Target Search returns a list
of all relevant MAST datasets, including links to preview and dataset
pages. By selecting 'Band/Data Type(s),' the user can restrict the search to
specific wavelength bands. The output page summarizes the available datasets
ordered by mission. For more output format options (e.g., csv, VOTable
or excel spreadsheet files), or for entering multiple target names, use
the cross correlation search form.

Search for object catalogs in the VizieR database using
catalog name, mission name, target name, wavelength range, and/or
keywords. Users may then search within the catalog based on any object
parameters contained in the catalog. The full catalog or the refined set
of objects may then be cross-correlated with any MAST mission. Note that
searches based on a large number of catalog entries and/or many HST
instruments or MAST missions may result in query failures. In addition,
users should be aware that searches may take several minutes, depending
on the size of the request and bandwidth availability.

Using the spectral/imaging Scrapbook
(http://archive.stsci.edu/scrapbook.php),
the user can delve deeper, to
peruse selected (preview) spectra and images from most MAST missions (outside
the Solar System). Using parameters like exposure times and observing date, we
have chosen these observations as 'representative' of a named target or
position on the sky. For spectra, we have selected the maximum exposure time
and lowest dispersion for a given grating/wavelength configuration, which
provides the broadest wavelength coverage. For images, we have chosen on the
basis of exposure time, eliminating multiple pointings. In the Scrapbook, the
results page provides links to preview and dataset pages, where the user can
both learn what data are available and gain a multi-wavelength view of the
source. Using an option available for the spectral Scrapbook, the user can
co-plot representative preview spectra. After selecting them, the user clicks
'plot marked spectra,' which displays them all on a single plot of calibrated
flux versus wavelength. The result is a single, broad-band spectrum, possibly
combining the results of multiple instruments and missions. This tool is also
available now to enable the overplotting of preview spectra from several,
arbitrary datasets in a single operation, outside the Scrapbook. It can be
used for any combination of targets from different missions - HST, IUE, FUSE,
ORFEUS, WUPPE - to create a plot for an arbitrary selection of datasets. This
tool is available at http://archive.stsci.edu/mast_coplot.html.

Dedicated search interfaces permit advanced searches for all MAST
missions. The user can access these interfaces from the individual mission
pages or from http://archive.stsci.edu/data.html.
By this route, the user can
search for a particular object or a given position, specifying a variety of
observational parameters, including exposure time, observing date, filters,
and gratings. The result is a list of datasets matching the criteria,
including various parameters, like target name, coordinates, instrument, and
the number of published papers associated with the proposal ID (HST) or
dataset name (other MAST missions). We are currently developing new features
for the search interfaces.

Dedicated search interface permits searches for
High-Level Science Products (HLSP) hosted by MAST. The HLSP are fully processed
(reduced, co-added, cosmic-ray cleaned etc.) images and spectra that are ready
for scientific analysis. HLSP also include files such as object catalogs,
spectral atlases, and README files describing a given set of data.

HLSP may be discovered in some mission search results pages. Look for the
column labeled "High-Level Science Product" and click on the number to display
a list of HLSP associated with the mission observation.

We provide three options for archive users to determine which sources on a list or in a
class of astronomical objects have MAST data. At http://archive.stsci.edu/xcorr.php?form=fuf,
the user can upload a file containing a list of sky positions to cross-correlate
with all MAST holdings. The result is a table with links to the MAST search pages for individual
missions.
More detailed multiple searches can be carried out from the individual search forms
(e.g., http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/search.php?form=fuf),
where users can search on a list of sky positions or astronomical names.
Finally, at http://archive.stsci.edu/search/, users can
employ our catalog cross-correlation interfaces to correlate the MAST archive with the Hipparcos
and Sky2000 star catalogs, an active galactic nuclei catalog, or the Abell catalog of clusters
of galaxies. We plan to expand these class-search options.

To learn how many times an instrument has imaged a given region of the sky -
with how many filters and when - the user can search ACS, WFPC2, STIS, NICMOS, and FOC
exposures through the 'pointings' interface at
http://archive.stsci.edu/pointings/search.php.
This tool is
useful for variability studies and serendipitous searches. It can provide
answers to questions like, "How many and which WFPC2 pointings have more
than two I-band exposures and two B-band exposures?" Or, "How many and
which STIS pointings at low galactic latitude have observations separated
in time by at least 100 days?" With the pointings interface, the user can
search by position and by ranges in Galactic latitude, ecliptic latitude,
right ascension, and declination. Future versions will
allow multi-instrument
searches, such as, "Which WFPC2 pointings have more than two U-band exposures and NICMOS data?"

Responding to the recommendations of the Cycle 7 Time Allocation Committee, we
began the Archival Pure Parallel Program in June 1997, at the start of the
Cycle 7 observations. This program continues. It seeks to maximize the
scientific return from HST by taking parallel data with STIS, NICMOS,
WFPC2 and now ACS whenever these instruments are not prime. The resulting data
have no proprietary period and are promptly made available to the community.
The Archival Pure Parallel Program strives to build large, consistent, and
coherent datasets for the HST archive. Users can find more information at
http://www.stsci.edu/instruments/parallels/
and access all pure parallel data
at http://www.stsci.edu/instruments/parallels/pure_parallels.html.

Users interested in checking what science observations have been approved for
HST can use the Abstracts Search at
http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/abstract.html.
The user specifies search words or phrases in a syntax explained in the help section of the search interface. The
search returns all matching proposal abstracts, information about the
proposal, and - if the proposal has been executed - links to the archived
data. You may also search the proposal abstract for FUSE, IUE and EUVE.

MAST provides links between archived data and papers based on those
data. These links work two ways. First, archive users can find the refereed
papers based on MAST observations that were found in a mission-interface
search. Clicking on the number in the 'Ref' column (which is the number of
published papers associated with the found observations), the user can display
the list of found papers, including title, first author, and journal reference
(bibcode). The latter follows the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) bibliography
code and is also a link to the ADS Abstract Service, which provides electronic
access to the paper. Second, readers of on-line journals at the ADS can access
the data when a paper is based on MAST holdings. At the end of 2001, MAST
included links to almost 8,000 papers, of which more than 3,100 were based on
HST data and almost 3,000 on IUE data.
A list of MAST-based papers can also be searched at ADS, which now provides
dedicated forms for HST and IUE papers. These forms are accessible at
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/Groups/search/HST and
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/Groups/search/IUE.
The user can search on all the
usual ADS fields, which include authors, object names, and
abstract. Alternatively, the user can scroll down the ADS main page
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html),
select "At least one of the
following groups (OR)," and then select HST and/or IUE from the group list.
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